In Print

Printmaking as an art form has a long and distinguished history. Many contemporary artists work with print media to explore ideas utilizing the diverse techniques of this adaptable practice. A print is an original artwork that is created through the development of an image on a surface which was traditionally stone, metal, wood and later stretched silk or fine screen. However, contemporary printmaking now encompasses many other surfaces and techniques. The image is transferred from the surface to paper with ink through different means depending on the process used. Fine art prints are made in a limited edition of multiples, which are numbered and signed by the artist. One of the advantages of creating multiples is that it enables a broader public to view and collect prints. Printmaking, by its nature, is often described as the most democratic of art practices. The various forms of printmaking present unique methods for image-making that allow for results unlike those that can be achieved through the use of other media. Artists who work with media, such as painting or sculpture, often use printmaking as an additional method to investigate ideas visually, acquiring the technical proficiency or working with a master printer at a print shop to translate their ideas into the printed medium. Other artists devote the majority of their practice to printmaking, identifying strongly with its materials, methodology and precision.

Approximately one quarter of the Richmond Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection is comprised of prints ranging from lithographs to monoprints, screen prints to etchings. The works span five decades with a concentration of work being created in the 1980s and 90s. Many of the artists represented in this collection are (or were) based in British Columbia, making the Richmond Art Gallery’s collection of prints regionally relevant in documenting a range of the terrain that has been covered by printmakers in the province during this period. This exhibition provides a selection of works composed of a variety of print media, illustrating the diversity of modes and themes artists have explored over the past few decades. These include personal concerns, cultural and social issues and aesthetic explorations. The printmaking techniques showcased in this exhibition are screen printing, lithography, linocut, reduction woodcut and intaglio.The Richmond Art Gallery has received two large donations of print works from respected Vancouver-based artists Alan Wood and Pnina Granirer. Both collections provide a comprehensive look at each artist’s growth and artistic development and the diversity of their practice. Works by both Wood and Granirer are included in this exhibition. To view more prints and other artworks, see the Gallery’s Collection documented in our online inventory.

Carie Helm
Curatorial Assistant

French adaptation and translation: Annie Bourret